Oil-cloth-printing machine



(No Model.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 EVA. BOUOHER.

OIL CLOTH PRINTING MACHINE.

Patented June 14, 1-887.

Inventor 766/113/ JZBoucher k/ By his M z-neys N. PETERS.Phulo-Lilhogrzphur, Washington. DJ;v

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H.A.BOAUOHER.

OIL GLOTHv PRINTING MAGHINE.-

N. PETERS. Pmwuflwg y n wa'hin lan. n. C.

(No Model I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. H. A. BOUOHER.

OIL CLOTH PRINTING MACHINE.

N PETERS. FhckrLsthogmpher. wnhin xm D. (:4

UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

HENRY BOUOHER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

O IL-CLOTH-PRINTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,890, dated June 14,1887.

' Application filed July 6, 1886. Serial No. 207,230. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY A. BOUOHER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Oil-Oloth-Printing Machines, of which'the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to that class of oilcloth-printing machines inwhich the cloth passes between a bed-plate and reciprocated platenscarrying the printing-blocks, the cloth being at rest while'theimpression is being made, and being fed forward while the impressionblocks and platens are lifted and while'the color is being applied tothe blocks by traveling color-boxes.

The main objects of my invention are to simplify and improve themechanism for op erating the platens carrying the color-printing blocks,to construct the mechanism for feeding the oil-cloth, so as to obtain atrue registry of the successive impressions, and to so construct thedevices for traversing the color-' boxes that the color will be appliedto the faces of the blocks as the said boxes travel in one directiononly, and so that. when desired, the color may be applied to theprinting-blocks at every other impression only.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my improvedoil-cloth-printing machine. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line1 2, Fig. 4. Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal sectionof the machine.Fig. 4 is a transverse section drawn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is aperspective view illustrating a portion of the feeding devices for thecloth. Fig. 6 is a plan View of a portion of one of the feed chains.Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of one of the color-boxes andits operating devices. Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of oneof the bars controlling .the movement of the color-boxes; and Fig. 9 isan end view of one of the color-boxes and parts of the carrying-bars.

In the present drawings I have illustrated my machine as provided withthree sets of printing devices, including three printingblocks for threesets of colors of the pattern,

but it should be understood that the machine may be constructed with anydesired number of such printing-blocks and their operating devices.

The bed A of the machine is mounted on legs (I, having flanged wheels orrollers an, adapted to traverse on rails 00 on the floorof the factory,so that the machine can be readily moved from one set of drying-racks toanother, as occasion may demand.

The bed-plate A of the machine is of about the width of an ordinarycloth to be printed, and is provided with side frames, A, extendingupward from the bed-plate. Each side, frame A is provided on the insidewith pairs of vertical dovetail guides b, corresponding in number withthe number of printing-blocks to be used. To these guides b are adaptedbrackets B, carrying the platens B, to the faces of which theprinting-blocks D are secured. To raise and lower these platens withtheir printing-blocks, I make use of longitudinal reciprocatingcan1-bars E, adapted to corresponding longitudinal guides, e, on theoutside of the side frames, A, and to impart the necessary reciprocatingmot-ion to these cam-bars I prefer to use an eccentric, F, 'on the mainshaft f. which may be driven in any ordinary way. The eccentric gives asteady movement,which is of great importance in oil-cloth-printingmachines, where a true registry of the successive impressions isabsolutely necessary. The straps of the eccentrics are connected to thebars E by the usual connecting-rods, f.

In the drawings I have illustrated the bars E as being made in sections;but these sections are firmly bolted together, so that in operation andeffect the several sections constitute one bar. Each bar E is providedwith camslots E, corresponding in number to the number of platens andprinting-blocks used, and the brackets B of the platens carry pins orprojections G, which pass freely through vertical slots 9 of the sideframes and into the cam-slots E of the bars E. These cam-slots are inthree partsone inclined part, c, for the purpose of raising and loweringthe platens as the bars are reciprocated, a straight portion, 6, at theupper endof the inclined part, for the purpose of retaining the platensand printing-blocks in an elevated position while the color is beingapplied and while the cloth is being fed forward, and a shorter straightportion, 6 at the lower end of the inclined portion of the slot, topress the print ing-blocks onto the cloth.

If desired, I may use in connection with the above-described mechanismsome counterbalancing devices to partly counterbalance the weight of theplatens and printing-blocks, so as to reduce the friction on thereciprocating bars E. For instance, in Fig. 4 I have indicated in dottedlines aform of counterbalance which may be used, and which consists ofcount-erweighted levers d, pivotedto the under side of the bed-plate,and acting on the platens through connecting-rods (1, connected to thebrackets B. It will be understood, however, that other forms ofcounter-balance may be used.

Immediately below each platen on the bed A of the machine is a suitableimpressionblankct, over which the cloth 0 passes. The cloth is fedforward intermittently by means of intermittentlyoperated endless chainsH H, which pass over suitable pulleys, h, at each end of the machine,and, as illustrated in Fig. 4,

these chains traverse longitudinal grooves on each side of the bed-plateof the machine. Each chain is provided at intervals with nippers I, soas to grasp the fabric.

In the drawings each nipper is shown as composed of a pair of jaws, it,hinged to each other, and having a spring, j, to tend to separate andhold the two at right angles, as indicated in Fig. 5. One of the jaws,i, is secured to the feed-chain H, and the other carries a pin or pins,or teeth,to get the necessary hold on the cloth.

In order to automatically close these jaws to grip the edges of thecloth as the chain enters its longitudinal groove along the bed of themachine, and to keep the jaws closed until the cloth emerges from theopposite end of the machine, I provide a holding-down plate, K, alongthe top of each chain-groove. At the entering end It each plate K ismade funnel shape, as shown in Fig. 5, so that as the open jaws advancethe funnel-shaped end It has the effect of pushing down the free hingedjaw z", to grip the cloth against the oppositejaw, and the plates K keepthe jaws closed as the chains travel along the bed-plate. \Vhen thegrippers reach the opposite ends of their grooves in the machine wherethe oil-cloth comes out, they are freed from the holding-down plate K,and the spring j opens the jaws to release the fabric,

which passes over the guide h and onto the drying-racks,while thefeed-chains pass around the end pulleys, h.

To impart the desiredintermittent feed motion to these chains, I provideon the bars E arms Q, having pins q, passing through horizontal slots inthe side bars and provided on the inside of the side bars with pivotedpawls t. These pawls, as the bars are moved away from thedriving-shaft], slide over the chains and the surfaces of theholding-down plates K; but when the side bars begin their returnmovement the noses of the pawls tenter slots in the plates K and engagewith the links, so as to draw the chains and cloth forward with themovement of the bars. The feed-chains,

and consequently the cloth to be printed, are thus intermittently fedforward a certain distance equal to a certain number of links, and thisexactly equal to the widths of the printing-blocks.

L L are the color-boxes, provided with r0llers l, carrying the colorsand adapted to come into contact with the faces of the printingbloekswhen the latter are raised out of contact with the cloth, and when theseboxes are traversed underneath the printingblocks.

In oilcloth-printingmachines as heretofore constructed it has beencustomary to simply traverse the color-applying devices across the facesof the printing-blocks and to apply the color on both the backward andforward movements. This is sometimes objectionable, however, because thecolor-roller on the return movement is apt to remove from a part of theblock some of the color which has been applied in the forward movement,and an uneven impression is thus produced.

- I so construct my devices for operating the color-boxes that the colorwill be applied to the faces of the printing'bloeks only as theytraverse in one direction. The color-boxes are secured at opposite endsto a pair of flanged bars, M M, which may or may not be connected bycross-pieces to form a frame, and these bars are adapted to traverse onways with their flanges in contact with the inside faces of the sideframes, A, as shown in Fig. 4. These bars are provided at intervals ontheir under sides with feet or projections m, Fig. 7, resting on stepson the traversingbars M, as hereinafter described. Each bar 11 has atthe end of the machine where the cloth enters a rack, R, Figs. 1, 2, andS, into which gears a spur-wheel, r, on the frame. To the axis of thisspur-wheel is secured, on the outside of the frame, a pinion, 2, gearinginto an idler, 3, which in turn meshes with a toothed quadrant having anarm and finger, 5, which projects into the path of an open jaw, S, onthe end of the corresponding slide-bar, E, Figs. 1 and 2. As theslide-bars E traverse in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, thereforethese jaws S will engage with the projections on the arms of thequadrants 4, and through the gearing described will impart movement tothe racks R, bars M and M, and the color-boxes carried thereby, so as totraverse the latter across the faces of the elevated printing-blocks inthe direction of the arrow, Fig. 2. Each bar M is provided with twopairs of stepsone, s, at a slight distance below the other pair, 8, asshown more fully in Figs. 8 and 9-- and on either of these pairs ofsteps the corresponding feet, 111, of the bars M are adapted to rest.\Vhen the bars M are on the lower pair of steps, 8 s, the tops of thecolor-rollers will be below the line of the faces of theprinting-blocks, so that if then the color-boxes are traversed beneaththe latter no color will be applied to the blocks; but when the bars Mare 011 the upper pair of steps, 3, and the colorboxcs are thentraversed beneath the blocks the rollers will be in position to applycolor to' the faces of the blocks.

' To elevate the bars Mfrom the lower to the upper pair of steps, Iprovide along the outer face of each flanged bar pairs of cams m, Fig.7, which are adapted to act in connection with pins n on the sideframes, A. These cams m are such and the pins 11. are in such positionthat the cams will slide up on the pins n, and so raise the bars whenthe color-boxes reach the end of. their movement toward the dischargeend of the machine, as shown inFig. 2, so that when the bars M are firstmoved forward,by the mechanism above described, in the direction oftheir arrow, Fig. 2, the upper steps, 8, of the bars M will pass underthe feet m of the bars M, and the projections t, Fig. 8,011 the bars Mwill catch the said feet at and cause the bars M of the color-boxes totraverse with the bars M at such a height as to apply color to the facesof the raised printing-blocks. When the return movement of the bars Mtakes place, the feet m of the bars M will fall into the lower steps ofthe bars M, so that as the colorboxes move back again no color will beapplied to the faces of the printing-blocks.

In some cases it is desirable that color shall be applied to the facesof the printing-blocks only at every other impression, and to do thisautomatically I make use of the devices which I will-now proceed todescribe.v Instead of having the pins n fixed to the side frames, A,

they may be adapted to slide therein and be provided with springs n, asshown in Fig. 7, which tend to prevent their inner ends from protrudinginto. the path of the cams m. In order, however, to force these pins ninto the path of these cams, I provideafour-armed campiece, P, mountedto turn on a pin on the outside of the side frame for each pair of pinsa.-

Two of the arms of this piece P have on their inner side inclined or camfacesp, while the other arms, p, have no cams, so that when the piece Pis turned to bring the cams p to bear on the outer ends of the pins attheir inner ends will be pushed into the path of the cams m on the barsM, to raise the color-boxes at the end of their movement onto 'the uppersteps of the bars M, as above described. On' the other hand, when thecam-piece is turned 1 to bring the arms p opposite the ends of the pins12, the latter will be forced outward by their springs 11, so that theirinner ends do not protrude into the paths of the cams m, and thecolor-boxes will therefore remain on the lower steps, 8, of the bars M,and no color will then be applied to the faces of the printing-blocks,as the color-boxes are traversed in either direction. To turn these camsI, I pivot a corresponding number of pawls, O, to the sliding bars E, asshown in Fig. 1, and provide stop-pins 0 on the bars, so that as thebars traverse in the direction of their arrow, Fig. 1, these pawls willslide over the campieces P; but as they move in the opposite directionthey will give but a quarter-turn to into and out of action at thesuccessive backward and forward movements.

In order to make up for wear, I make the feed-chains H in sectionsunited by right and left hand screw-bolts h, Fig. 6, so as to providefor a certain amount of adjustment and wear. I

I wish it to be understood that I do not claim, broadly, the horizontalreciprocating cam-bars for operating the platens carrying theprlnting-blocks.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination of the bed-plate and sideframes of an oilscloth-printing machine, with horizontal reciprocatingcam-bars E, having cam-slots, platens carrying the printing-blocks, andbrackets carrying the platens and provided with pins adapted to thecam-slots in the bars, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the bed-plate and side frames of anoil-cloth-printing machine, with horizontal guides on the outside andvertical guides on the inside, platens carrying brackets adapted to theinside guides, and operating cam-bars adapted to the outside guides,substantially as described.

3. The combination of the bed-plate and platens of an oil-cloth-printingmachine, w th operating cam-bars for the platens, feed-chains for thecloth, and pawls carried by the said bars and adapted to engage with thechains, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the bed-plate and platens of an oil-cloth-printingmachine, w th feed-chains for the cloth having spring gr1pping-jaws, andholding-down plates having funnel-shaped ends, to automatically closethe spring-jaws as the chain-advances.

5. The combination of the bed plate and platens of an oil-cloth-printingmachine, with color-rollers free to be moved vertically toward and fromthe faces of the printing-blockscarried by'the platens, and devices,substantially as described, for bringing the color-rollers up to theprinting-blocl s as the color-boxes traverse in one direction, andcarrying them away from the printing-blocks as the colorboxes traversein the other direction, all substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of the bed-plate and platens of an oil-cloth-printingmachine, having bars M, carrying the color-boxes, reciprocating-bars M,on which the said bars M rest at different heights, and devices,substantially as described, for raising and lowering the upper bar onthe lower one, substantially as specified.

7. The combination of the bed-plate and platens of an oil-cloth-printingmachine, with bars M, carrying the color-boxes, and having feet m,reciprocating bars M, having steps 8 s at different heights, anddevices, substantially as described, for raising the upper bar from thelower to the upper steps, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination of the bed-plate and IIO platens of anoil-cloth-printing machine, and bars M, carrying the color-boxes andhaving cams m, with reciprocating bars M, having steps at differentheights, on which the bars M and color-boxes can rest,and pins on theframe, with which the eamsm engageas the bars reach one end of theirmovement, to raise the bars M and the boxes from the lower to the uppersteps.

9. The combination of the bed-plate and platens of an oil-eloth-printingmachine, with bars carrying the color-boxes, and having racks R,quadrant-arm 4, geared to the said rack, and the reciprocating cam-barsE, having open jaws to engage with the said quadrant, substantially asdescribed.

HENRY A. BOUCHER.

Witnesses:

WILLIMI D. CONNER, H UBERT H owsoiv.

